Bowing to pressure from anxious allies, President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday ending the process of separating children from families after they are detained crossing the U.S. border illegally."We want to keep families together. It's very important," Trump told reporters during a White House meeting Wednesday.The effort marks a dramatic turnaround for an administration that has been insisting, wrongly, that it has no choice but to separate families apprehended at the border because of the law and a court decision.Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, the president and other officials have repeatedly said the only way to end the practice is for Congress to pass new legislation, though both Democrats and some Republicans have said the president could stop it himself.Earlier, Nielsen drafted an executive action for Trump that would direct her department to keep families together after they are detained crossing the border illegally. She was at the White House, where Trump told reporters he would be “signing something” shortly.News in recent days has been dominated by searing images of children held in cages at border facilities, as well as audio recordings of young children crying for their parents.The administration recently put into place a “zero tolerance” policy in which all unlawful border crossings are referred for prosecution — a process that moves adults to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service and sends many children to facilities run by the Department of Health and Human Services. Under the Obama administration, such families were usually referred for civil deportation proceedings, which did not require separation.The policy had led to a spike in family separations in recent weeks, with more than 2,300 minors separated from their families at the border from May 5 through June 9, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Bowing to pressure from anxious allies, President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday ending the process of separating children from families after they are detained crossing the U.S. border illegally.

The effort marks a dramatic turnaround for an administration that has been insisting, wrongly, that it has no choice but to separate families apprehended at the border because of the law and a court decision.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, the president and other officials have repeatedly said the only way to end the practice is for Congress to pass new legislation, though both Democrats and some Republicans have said the president could stop it himself.

Earlier, Nielsen drafted an executive action for Trump that would direct her department to keep families together after they are detained crossing the border illegally. She was at the White House, where Trump told reporters he would be “signing something” shortly.

News in recent days has been dominated by searing images of children held in cages at border facilities, as well as audio recordings of young children crying for their parents.

The administration recently put into place a “zero tolerance” policy in which all unlawful border crossings are referred for prosecution — a process that moves adults to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service and sends many children to facilities run by the Department of Health and Human Services. Under the Obama administration, such families were usually referred for civil deportation proceedings, which did not require separation.

The policy had led to a spike in family separations in recent weeks, with more than 2,300 minors separated from their families at the border from May 5 through June 9, according to the Department of Homeland Security.